Date of Award

8-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Mechanical Engineering

Committee Chair/Advisor

Dr. Gregory Mocko

Committee Member

Dr. Cameron Turner

Committee Member

Dr. Satchit Ramnath

Abstract

The research is focused on creativity in engineering design. The goal is to understand if creativity in engineering design can be assessed using a less resource-intensive approach, specifically a survey, compared to design exercises. The survey builds on the metrics established by Shah and colleagues. The four metrics are Novelty, Quality, Variety and Quantity. The metrics are measured with the help of a design activity that is deployed to the participants. These metrics have been used in comparative analysis to assess treatments such as new design methods and personality types. However, the downside of the metrics is that they require considerable time from the participants and meticulous training and coordination among the raters to ensure that the scoring was reliable and consistent.

A survey is proposed to address the challenges of a design activity. The survey comprises statements from two domains of research. The first is design ideation-related statements derived from interpretations of Shah’s ideation metrics. Different researchers' definitions of metrics are adapted into statements that prompt self-assessment. The second is personality-related statements. These statements are extracted from the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP), a collection of general personality instruments. Both statements undergo an evaluation process before being consolidated into a list.

To ensure that the statements in the consolidated list are mutually exclusive to only one metric, a statement categorization task was sent out to participants as an online survey. The consolidated list of statements is deployed to participants via an online survey. The developed statements were classified into Shah’s metrics by participants trained in the four metrics of ideation effectiveness. This survey aims to check if the statements are mutually exclusive and relevant to the metrics. This analysis helps identify any potential overlaps or ambiguities in the statements; such statements are eliminated. The resulting survey instrument is a scalable supplement to a traditional method of measuring how effectively a participant would explore a design space. It holds promise for application in educational and professional settings, offering a new perspective in evaluating design thinking.

Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0008-7632-2539

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